I've spent years finding ways to save money and time when it comes to grocery shopping. I want healthy but affordable. Here are 9 of my most tangible tips to help you on your next shopping trip!
(1) TAKE INVENTORY
Before your grocery shopping trip, take inventory of what is in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. From there, create your list by what you don't have.
This will keep you from over-buying on items. When you over-buy, that food takes up more and more space which leads to waste, especially with perishable items.
There are apps that can help you keep a digital tally of what you have on hand. You can even set notifications for when food is about to spoil.
(2) CHECK THE WEEKLY ADS AND APS
Take a quick look at your grocery store's weekly ad to find the in-season produce, which will be the healthiest.
Download your grocery stores app to quickly clip coupons, find the ads, look up prices for the items you buy, and take advantage of the shop-and-scan (for some stores) to save time.
(3) EAT BEFORE YOU SHOP
Never shop on an empty stomach! You will buy anything and everything unhealthy for you, and you may even pop open a box before you get to the checkout (been there, done that).
BEWARE: Shopping while hungry has shown to lead to impulse buying, even on non-food items!
(4) SHOP DURING OFF PEAK HOURS
Try to avoid shopping during high-traffic hours, like weekends. You'll be left with empty shelves and the picked-over produce.
If your schedule is tight, shop online to get curbside pickup or delivery. I take advantage of this wherever I can. Not only does it save me from impulse buying, I'm also saving time by having someone else do the shopping for me. Time is money!
(5) BE AWARE OF THE CENTER AISLES
Most of your shopping cart should be from the perimeter of the store: fresh produce, breads, dairy, meats.
Shopping the center aisles is dangerous because much of it is unhealthy, processed foods full of empty calories.
If you do, be cautious! Stick with items like canned fruits, veggies, beans, oatmeal, lentils, and rice.
(6) BUYING FROZEN OR CANNED PRODUCE
Fresh is always best, but if you can't eat it fast enough then you're left with a lot of wasted food.
Typically, canned fruits and veggies are picked at their prime and retains their nutritional value.
Buy canned fruit in 100% juice, rather than syrup to avoid the added sugars.
(7) BUY BULK WHEN YOU CAN
I buy most of my staple items at my local bulk store, like meats, dairy, breads, water, toilet paper, and paper towel. These are items I either get once every couple of months (like TP), or the items I need every single week (like almond milk, grass-fed butter, and produce).
I end up going to my local grocery store once or twice a month for small things I can't buy at the bulk store. Again, time is money!
(8) READ YOUR LABELS
We all want to know if what we're buying is healthy or not but most of us look at nutrition labels like they're in a foreign language.
Quick tips:
- An ingredients list goes from what it has the most of to the least.
- The first 3 ingredients are the most important, and if one of those is sugar - put it back.
- Sugar is disguised as "high fructose corn syrup", "brown rice syrup", and many other names.
- Avoid dextrose, fructose, and most other words ending in "ose".
I intend to do a full blog post on how to read nutrition labels so check back to my blog!
(9) SIGN UP FOR REWARDS
This will save you even more money on your grocery trip. I simply scroll through my grocery stores app coupons, clip what I want, and it's automatically added at checkout. Super easy!
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